Highly enjoyable Conversation article about a brilliant new neural tube paper: theconversation.com/fluorescent-...

Fluorescent quail embryos could help solve serious birth defects in humans

A fluorescent embryo allows scientists to watch living cells organise themselves in real time, revealing processes previously impossible to observe.

theconversation.com

Delighted with this new paper. Key findings I'm most interested in following up: - Mechanical cues impact cell shape long after the cue ends, - Surface ectoderm (SE) cells have cryptic lamellipodia which may enable collective crawling, - SE becomes progressively jammed www.cell.com/current-biol...

Mechanosensitive feedback organizes cell shape and motion during hindbrain neuropore morphogenesis

Pérez-Verdugo et al. show that hindbrain neuropore closure is driven by surface ectoderm actomyosin purse-string tension and active migration. These forces create reproducible patterns of cell elongat...

cell.com

In @eLife.bsky.social: Patient-specific iPSC models of neural tube defects identify underlying deficiencies in neuroepithelial cell shape regulation and differentiation doi.org/10.7554/eLif... @hpscenthusiast.bsky.social

How do sparse mesenchymal cells, with unique stellate arms spanning large gaps between cells, maintain their network while still flowing during development? In our new preprint we describe the avian PSM as a fluid under tension and develop new theory to explain it: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sparse mesenchymal cell networks as a fluid under tension

Sparse mesenchymal cellular networks are ubiquitous across animals, shaping both embryonic and adult structures through dynamic interactions with epithelia. Yet, the physical principles underlying the...

biorxiv.org

Fascinating work on the biomechanics of mesenchymal tissues right here:

bioRxiv Biophysics@biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Sparse mesenchymal cell networks as a fluid under tension https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.07.692626v1

One for #NeuralTube biologists:

bioRxiv Developmental Biology@biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Increased tissue tension caused by depletion of CLDN3 in the non-neural ectoderm causes neural fold fusion defects in chick embryos https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.14.682463v1

#ApicalConstriction and #DevBio afficionados - we've got two new pre-prints you may be interested in, below:

A lateral tension model for cranial mouse neural tube closure https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654327v1

A couple of weeks left to apply to join Development's *Pathway to Independence* programme Support & mentoring for post-docs on the academic job market Deadline: January 31 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/pi...

Applications are now open for our UCL East London Scholarship. The value of the bursary is full home tuition fees plus £16,000 maintenance. The deadline is Thursday 26 June 2025. Find out more, including eligibility criteria: www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...

UCL East London Scholarship

This scholarship supports the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of all UCL East Master's programmes and select School of Management programmes.

ucl.ac.uk

We're hiring a postdoc! Please forward to people you know who are looking for positions. Interested in studying how metabolism is wired to support fertility? 🔬🪰 Come join us! Ad to go live next week, but informal enquiries encouraged.

Applications open for a new cohort of @dev-journal.bsky.social *Pathway to Independence* fellows Know a #devbio post-doc about to enter the academic job market? Would they benefit from a little support & mentoring? Spread the word Deadline 31 Jan 2025 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/pi...

To mark Black Friday, we are excited to share our latest work, "Planar polarized force propagation integrates cell behavior with tissue shaping during convergent extension." Now online in Current Biology. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kATd3QW8S...

Happy to share our new preprint with Vernanda Perez-Verdugo, @shilabanerjee.bsky.social @glgalea.bsky.social We show that mechanical feedback drives shape and spatial order of the surface ectoderm in hindbrain neuropore closure.

bioRxiv Biophysics@biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · 2y ago

Self-organized cell patterning via mechanical feedback in hindbrain neuropore morphogenesis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.21.624679v1

How do physical forces influence spatiotemporal cell patterning during tissue morphogenesis? Our latest preprint integrates theoretical modeling with live imaging of mouse embryos to reveal how mechanosensitive feedback drives self-organized cell patterning during hindbrain neuropore morphogenesis.

bioRxiv Biophysics@biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · 2y ago

Self-organized cell patterning via mechanical feedback in hindbrain neuropore morphogenesis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.21.624679v1